Chapter 2. An Interesting Outcome
Getting beaten up is one thing, but by the hands of your mortal enemy stinks. Malfoy and his cronies had left, so poor Harry was alone on the cold stone floor. He laid there for awhile, contemplating what to do next. He checked his watch, which showed he had been gone half an hour already. He knew that Hermione and Ron would probably check to see if he was back within the next half hour. Harry decided he had to get up off the ground.
He grabbed on a nearby chair, and attempted to pull himself up. But the chair slid and fell down with a big "BANG!". He was too hurt and annoyed to think about the noise. He instead grabbed for a desk, this time successfully pulling himself up. It took him a few minutes to get his balance. He checked his watch again which read 10:38. He knew he had to get a move on. Harry collected himself for a minute, then painfully trekked back to Gryffindor Towner.
Unfortunately, what Harry didn't know is that the sound from the chair echoed down the halls where he was headed.
Severus Snape was doing his regular rounds. Every Thursday night from 10:00-11:30. He didn't have to do it, but he was up and around anyways making potions to stock the hospital wing. He occasionally came across the odd student. They were usually busy, and didn't notice him, so he had a perfect advantage. The first 'prey' he found was a first year Slytherin, who was unfortunately lost. Not unfortunate for the student, but for Snape, who liked to give detentions to wandering students. But he would not punish a lost child from his own house.
The next students he saw the annoying little love birds type. The kind that like to sneak away to somewhere 'romantic', just to eat each other's faces. The archways down deserted halls made good spots for the reckless teenagers. When it was couples like this, he enjoyed stalking quietly up to them. Then he would say in an intimidating but sarcastic voice, "Why are you out of your nice warm beds at this hour?". Every time he did this (too his amusement) the students would be startled and jump. He would then assign detentions and deduct points, that is, as long as they weren't in Slytherin.
He continued 'stalking' up and down the halls. Everything was peaceful, except for a few old gossiping paintings who stopped talking once they saw him. He started to head back to his chambers when he heard a loud "BANG!". He turned on the spot and headed towards the noise. He could hear something as he neared an empty hallway. It sounded like loud breathing and footsteps. He stayed still and moved against the wall, beside a suit of armour. Sure enough, the footsteps got louder and sounded right past him. There was also another sound that sounded like desperate panting, and tears being shed. He was thoroughly confused, as he couldn't see anything there. That is, until he saw something red, reflecting the moonlight.
Some small drips of red were on the floor. Small, but noticeable. He went up to it, and used a spell to check what basic matter was. It was blood, mixed with salt and water, presumably tears or sweat. He then heard another sound, one of someone slipping and skidding on Filch's beautifully waxed floors. The footsteps stopped. He carefully followed the sound of heavy breathing and droplets of tears. He stayed against the wall behind statues. Being always dressed in all black had its perks. He slid towards the noise. It became clear that whoever was there was not visible.
"Probably a disillusion charm." He thought to himself.
He quickly moved from behind the statue and said,
"Revelio."
Nothing happened. Except for a swoosh of robes and the footsteps of someone running away.
He kept following the stranger at a distance. For a while he thought he lost the mysterious person. That is, until he heard a screech of waxed floor and someone yell out in pain.
He ran to the noise and saw a foot. He reached forwards and to his surprise, grabbed an invisibility cloak. The owner was none other than Harry Potter.